West Brom beat Chelsea today. Still don't trust Di Matteo as a manager. Team plays some really nice stuff going forward this season but they don't look anywhere near solid enough defensively.

Delighted to see Steve Clarke being so successful as West Brom. He was a great #2 for a long time. I was very happy to see him get a chance as the #1 guy at WBA. Hated seeing how much he was doubted. Felt that was undeserved. Delighted to see all Clarke being so successful.

West Brom beat Chelsea today. Still don't trust Di Matteo as a manager. Team plays some really nice stuff going forward this season but they don't look anywhere near solid enough defensively.

Not sure that Di Matteo can be blamed for the defensive problems. It seems any defence featuring David Luiz will probably concede goals. I like Luiz, he's a great person and can do some good things on the pitch but the reality is you need a very good partner for him back there or goals will be leaked.

Looking back it's amazing to think Chelsea had Luiz playing 120 minutes of a Champions League Final and only conceded once!

Usual November doldrums. It's these runs of form that make it easier for Abramovich to continue his revolving door coaching policy.

RDM needs to turn it around soon or he will be next. There's rarely a shortage of candidates to take the Chelsea coaching position, unbelievably!

Each of the top three teams in the premier league look a bit weaker than in recent seasons this year.

Man Utd are conceding a lot of early goals. Missing defenders with injuries like last year. Still have problems in midfield. Haven't found the right balance up front yet but that should solve itself out over time.

Chelsea do not look organized/disciplined defensively (defense, defensive midfield) and up front Torres still has bouts of no-confidence type performances and there is little alternative behind him.

Man City struggling to replicate last year's form. Both some ordinary (at that level) players in the summer. Mancini's tinkering tactically + multiple times he has fallen out with his own players. Team spirit seems to be really lacking there. Midfield outside of Toure/Silva haven't been dependable / balanced.

They all seem to be faltering this year. Stuttering along. Getting worried about their Champions Leagues hopes ... none of the team's are really playing at a high enough level to be considered top contenders for the Champs League right now (which is where each should be).

West Brom beat Chelsea today. Still don't trust Di Matteo as a manager. Team plays some really nice stuff going forward this season but they don't look anywhere near solid enough defensively.

Not sure that Di Matteo can be blamed for the defensive problems. It seems any defence featuring David Luiz will probably concede goals. I like Luiz, he's a great person and can do some good things on the pitch but the reality is you need a very good partner for him back there or goals will be leaked.

Looking back it's amazing to think Chelsea had Luiz playing 120 minutes of a Champions League Final and only conceded once!

Usual November doldrums. It's these runs of form that make it easier for Abramovich to continue his revolving door coaching policy.

RDM needs to turn it around soon or he will be next. There's rarely a shortage of candidates to take the Chelsea coaching position, unbelievably!

I think Luiz gets too much criticism. Some of it is warranted but a lot of it isn't. Luiz makes some absolute howlers defensively and those mistakes stick out in one's memory the most but overall he has been playing very well. I think Luiz been having a very good season. He has been cutting down on those horrible mistakes and is becoming more consistent all the time. His overall play is very good even with those schoolboy errors.

I think the main problem with Chelsea defensively is the lack of coverage from midfield. Mikel, Ramires and Lampard aren't doing nearly enough to protect their back-line. Plus, there is a lack of cover from the advanced midfielders whose forward advances leave Chelsea too stretched out and vulnerable on the counter.

They are leaving them exposed time and time again. And the defense isn't nearly as strong as it used to be - for a variety of reasons (1) Terry has declined hugely (2) Cahill isn't a top class defender (3) Luiz egregious mistakes (4) lack of leadership / organization when Terry is unavailable. None of the others really boss the backline and keep everyone organized / disciplined / focused (5) Cech has never recovered from his head injury and hasn't been a world class keeper since then.

Hardly any criticism is landing on the midfield though. So many are just focusing on the defense rather than where the initial errors occurred that put them on the back foot + from there, Luiz is the easy target because of the calamitous mistakes he makes from time to time. So when the defenders get blamed, everyone targets Luiz and overlooks the rest of the CBs bad plays.

And I think that is solely because of how ridiculously awful Luiz' mistakes are and how much they stick out in everyone's mind. He's the first guy you think of because of that. But there are problems all over that defense/midfield ... but Luiz continues to get blamed for way more than he is truly responsible for.

I want to see them sign a top class center half to replace Terry + I think Courtois should return and replace Cech.

one may call it luck but i say it`s character .... MU has won ~10 games in EPL this season after being on goal down. I agree that conceiding goals is a good trend either but the way they turn things around everytime they need to is impressive

Lovely goal today by Theo Walcott. Very similar to Thierry Henry with the way he beat the offside trap and calmly slotted into the far ccrner. Clinical.

This Theo Walcott as a striker experiment is exciting. Best storyline at Arsenal this year alongside the arrival of Santi Cazorla. It would be nice for this to work out for them. They have been taking a lot of punches to the guy lately. They need some good news.

Edit: Great run and chipped cross from Wilshere for Arsenal's third. Crazy game, 7-3 to Arsenal over Newcastle. Hat-trick for Theo Walcott. Lucky run for the third after falling over. Lovely finish.

Oh my god. What a pitiful result. Chelsea are going to get knocked out by Swansea (Swansea!!!) in the League Cup semi-final.

Down 2-0 after a poor result in the first leg and with all their top attacking threats available, desperately needing goals ... and Chelsea can't even get one back.

Awful result

Oh, congratulations to Bradford for knocking out Aston Villa the other night. A fourth division team making it all the way to the League Cup Final. Incredible.

Very impressive achievement for Swansea too. They are having a great year under Michael Laudrup. That doesn't excuse Chelsea's miserable showing here and inability to win what should have been an easy trophy for them with the likes of Villa, Swansea and Bradford in the final four of the competition. Only top club in the mix. Awful. Yuck. Pathetic.

Chelsea have been an embarrassment today against Man United in the FA Cup.

They have been a shambles at the back and in midfield. Completely disorganized defensively and badly unbalanced in the midfield. The team just keeps going from bad to worse this season.

Not liking what I have seen from Demba Ba. He doesn't look up to it at this level. I think he might be nothing more than a mid-table striker. He makes miss Torres (even with Torres being as unreliable as he has been).